Monday, August 31, 2015

When repairing a bridge over the Nanticoke River, the Maryland
Department of Transportation’s State Highway Administration (SHA)
discovered what appeared to be a remarkably intact 18th century shipwreck in the water.

From the Maryland Department of Transportation: “The inadvertent discovery of this shipwreck is an amazing
opportunity to study early maritime history. It reminds us how
Marylanders used to move goods and people across the region. It’s not
every day we get to touch a shipwreck built more than 200 years ago,”
said Dr. Julie Schablitsky, SHA Chief Archaeologist.

But how best to document such fragile, and historically important materials? 3D scanning of the timbers will allow archaeologists from the SHA to digitally reconstruct this important discovery.